Ketan Mehta’s Rang Rasiya fought censors for five years

After being in the cans since 2008, Ketan Mehta’s Rang Rasiya is all set to hit theatres on October 23. The movie features Randeep Hooda, Nandana Sen (Amartya Sen's daughter) and Paresh Rawal in lead roles.

After being in the cans since 2008, Ketan Mehta’s Rang Rasiya is all set to hit theatres on October 23.

Starring Randeep Hooda , who plays the legendary Malayalam artist, Raja Ravi Varma, and Nandana Sen (daughter of Nobel Laureate Amritya Sen), essaying his muse, the film could not get past the censors reportedly because of nudity and other bold scenes.

Mehta had said that Rang Rasiya was fiction, though he admitted the film inspired by some of the actual incidents in Varma’s life.

Raja Ravi Varma was renowned for his iconic paintings of Hindu deities and scenes from mythology. He was better known for painting portraits of sensuous women.

Mehta, celebrated for works like Bhavni Bhavai, Holi, Mirch Masala and Maya Memsahib, had screened Rang Rasiya in London for a select audience.

It is yet not known whether Mehta had to be cut scenes from Rang Rasiya to suit the moral standards set by the Central Board of Film Certification.

In the prevailing scenario where the Board is clamping down on sex and kissing (example The Hundred-Foot Journey with Om Puri), it is probable that Mehta had to compromise to get his work out on the screens.